Ex-top cop testifies in Monticello case

Says 2 officials pressured him to hire McCline

MONTICELLO — A former Monticello police chief testified Friday that he was pressured to stop a background check on Kariem McCline, even though McCline had been arrested on charges of selling crack cocaine as a teen.

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By Victor Whitman

recordonline.com

By Victor Whitman

Posted May. 11, 2013 at 2:00 AM

By Victor Whitman

Posted May. 11, 2013 at 2:00 AM

» Social News

MONTICELLO — A former Monticello police chief testified Friday that he was pressured to stop a background check on Kariem McCline, even though McCline had been arrested on charges of selling crack cocaine as a teen.

Beacon police Chief Doug Solomon, formerly Monticello's top cop, was the main witness on the second day of McCline's trial in Sullivan County Court.

McCline is part of a village corruption case that involves his friend, Trustee T.C. Hutchins, and former Village Manager John LiGreci.

McCline is charged with a felony and a misdemeanor related to filing false information when he applied to be a police officer.

District Attorney Jim Farrell has built the case on McCline not revealing his arrest record as a juvenile when applying in 2011.

Solomon's testimony mostly dealt with the normal hiring process and the special pressure he said he was under to hire McCline. Solomon testified he was pressured by Hutchins to consider picking McCline from a Civil Service list and later ordered by LiGreci to stop a background investigation.

Solomon was on the force when 15-year-old McCline was arrested on charges of selling crack cocaine; the case was sealed because he was a juvenile. McCline also had a second arrest as an 18-year-old.

Solomon said he preferred to hire a retiring officer from another department.

McCline's attorney, William Martin, questioned Solomon about diversity in the force, asking if he'd hired any women. Martin alluded to a 1996 case where one officer was suspended over the beating of an African-American.

Solomon said he hired eight officers in the decade he was chief, four of whom were minorities. After becoming chief in 2002, Solomon started a new hiring procedure that called for a background check of all police candidates.

Farrell rested his case after calling Solomon, a retired police detective and the county personnel officer. The trial will resume Monday.

LiGreci and Hutchins were to be tried together this week. LiGreci pleaded guilty Wednesday to three misdemeanors of official misconduct, admitting to participating in a scheme to thwart a background check and hire McCline.